Boxers, Cue Balls, and Comedians: E. E. Cummings’ Polytexts
Boxers, Cue Balls, and Comedians: E. E. Cummings’ Polytexts
Author(s): Vakrilen KilyovskiSubject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Literary Texts, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Poetry, Visual Arts, Studies of Literature, American Literature
Published by: Великотърновски университет „Св. св. Кирил и Методий”
Keywords: polytextuality; polytextant; politextee; E. E. Cummings; autographic ekphrasis; intersemiotic transposition
Summary/Abstract: Poetry and painting were “the twin obsessions” of the American modernist E. E. Cummings. His engagement with more than one artistic practice makes his work suitable for a case study of polytextuality, which is the purpose of the present article. First, a brief theoretical introduction to polytextuality is offered. Then, four of Cummings’ poems are read against the background of their visual counterparts. Since the poem-picture pairs are treated as polytexts, the discussion focuses on the “intersemiotic transposition” involved in the process of transferring thematic and material data from one sign system to another.
Journal: VTU Review: Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences
- Issue Year: 5/2021
- Issue No: 2
- Page Range: 185-199
- Page Count: 15
- Language: English